


Walburga Black, Minister for Magic

by Chelonie



Series: Peace for Wix Britain [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-08 19:36:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18629914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chelonie/pseuds/Chelonie
Summary: Five years after the war ended with an armistice, life has changed a lot in Wix Britain.





	1. The Grangers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Grangers learn that their 6 year old daughter is a witch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommendation:  
> [A dead man's tale](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6006037/chapters/13793173) by Acnara  
>  _Summary: It is almost a normal Yule winter night when Harry James Potter, 17 year old wizard and future husband of the Dark Lord of Britain finds a portrait of a dead man in one of Hogwarts dark rooms._
> 
> (I love getting recommendations, of your own or other works - leave them in the comments!)

**_Hampstead, London_ **

**_22 February 1986_ **

 

The Grangers were just washing up after breakfast when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" called 6 year old Hermione.

"No you won't," George Granger said. "Hermione, you know the rules."

Hermione's shoulders slumped. "But I was expecting..."

"I know, kiddo. But you don't answer the door. Even if you're expecting books."

Dr George Granger opened the door on the chain to find two men and a boy about Hermione's age on his front porch. His first impression was that they were religious proselytisers - they were all three dressed in suits. Though usually the religious doorknockers didn't have clothing quite so - expensively tailored. They all three looked as if they had just stepped out of a banker's office in the City - even the child. 

"Can I help you?"

"Are you Dr George Granger?" one of the men asked. "We'd like to come in if we could. It's about your daughter, Hermione."

No. No, they could not.

"I'd like a little more information than that. Who are you?" he asked. He had his finger on the 'emergency call' button on the security system by the door. It would sound an alarm at the central monitoring station, and security guards would come out within twenty minutes. It was expensive technology, but worth it to keep his family safe.

"I'm Regulus Black, and this is my husband, Barty and our son Aries," the man said. He pulled out an identification card that showed that he was with Her Majesty's Home Office.

"Do you normally bring your family with you on government business?" George Granger asked.

"In these cases, I find it helps," Regulus Black said. He handed his ID card to George through the chain and said, "You should go to the phone book look up the phone number for the Home Office. Tell them you would like to verify that Regulus Black works for the Ministry of Extraordinary Education. We'll wait here."

"Papa..." the little boy protested. George was amused to see the other man pull him aside and hand him a book. The boy, disgruntled, sat on the step and started reading.  _So he's just a normal kid. Even though they've got him dressed in a suit._

After a few minutes of verification, and consultation with his wife Jean, George let the strange family into his house. He couldn't help notice that the boy was staring at  _everything,_ as if he was visiting from another planet and was trying to work out what earthling homes were like. The adults were more circumspect, but seemed a little uncomfortable. 

Jean rescued them all by offering tea, and by sending the children upstairs. Hermione was happy to take Aries's hand and pull him along, promising to show him all of her books and toys. And whatever strange place the men had come from, it was at least a place that served tea. They were perfectly comfortable with that social nicety.

Finally, Regulus Black set his teacup down and clasped his hands together in front of him. "I'm afraid there's no easy way to say it, so I'm just going to blurt it out. Magic is real, there are a secret population of witches and wizards all over the world, and your daughter is one of them."

* * *

"... Paul put you up to this," George finally said. His best friend was a champion practical joker - though how he'd arranged the Home Office to be in on it as well...

"Show us," Jean said, always the more pragmatic of the two.

The man who hadn't shown an ID... Barclay? Barney? reached inside his suit jacked and pulled out a thin stick. He waved it at one of the empty teacups, spoke a nonsense word, and the teacup changed shape and sprouted fur and... turned into a gerbil.

Jean reached out, scooped up the gerbil, and stroked it, confirming to herself that it was a living creature and no longer a teacup.

"This is an illusion," George said.

"This explains so much," Jean said.

"What do you mean?"

"The floating books. The exploding television. The time she screamed 'Quiet' and no one could talk for a quarter hour. The bathtub bubbles turning different colours," Jean said.

"I'm sure there's a scientific explanation for... all... this..." George said. He suddenly found himself floating halfway to the ceiling.

"Barty, put him down... gently." Regulus said. Barty did so, to George's relief.

"Are you really from the Home Office?" George said.

"I work for the Ministry of Magic," Regulus Black said. "It is a secret Ministry within Her Majesty's government. There is an International Statute of Secrecy to keep the knowledge of Magic a secret from the muggles - that's non-magical people, but exceptions are made for direct family members of magicals as well as certain government officials. To most of the government, my department is known as the Ministry for Extraordinary Education. But officially, we are the Ministry for Magical Education."

"So what does it mean?" Jean asked.

"Normally, about 90% of magical children are born into magical families, so they have adult magicals around them to help them learn to control their magic. For the 10% that aren't, we assign them a family to act as their intermediary to the magical world. When she is age 11, she can begin boarding school in Scotland, but in the meantime, she can be introduced to other magical children, such as Aries, and learn about the magical world." Regulus said.

They talked about school. Regulus admitted that there were other magical schools besides Hogwarts, but that Hogwarts was the one he went to, and so he was biased. They asked whether there were books explaining what was going on. Barty pulled books out of his pocket that should not possibly have fit in there (more evidence of magic). They discussed the magical section of the British Museum, and how to get to Diagon Alley.

On the whole, despite George's skepticism, and their completely different cultural backgrounds, they had a lot in common. They were all four swots, for example. Regulus wasn't nearly as much of one as Barty, but even he was eager to explore the Grangers' bookcases. Regulus was pleased that they didn't seem to have the muggle attitude against gay relationships that he'd noticed when he'd done these visits before, pulling away as if they thought he was contagious. 

One of the reasons Regulus brought his family to these visits was to let them see a wizarding child. But another was because he and Barty wanted to 'adopt' a muggleborn family. They were just waiting for the right family to click with. If the family had a problem with his choice of partner, then obviously he wasn't going to put in the time to form a closer relationship, and he passed their names along to be matched with someone else. 

Maybe, with the Grangers...

"Mummy! Daddy! Aries can do magic! It's not just me! It's not just me!" Hermione shouted, and came running down the stairs, tripping over the last three in her haste and excitement. Barty still had his wand out and caught her in mid air and floated her into her parents's arms. She was so excited that she barely noticed. "Look! Look! He turned my hair BLUE! Because I said it was my favourite colour!" 

Aries came running down behind them. "Hermynee showed me her tellovizh!" he announced happily. "We watched Cartunes!"

Jean laughed, and George ruffled his hands through his daughter's blue hair. "It's beautiful," he said. "You're my beautiful, magical witch."

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Regulus: How do you convince Muggleborns that magic is real?  
> Minerva: I turn into a cat.  
> Regulus: Hmm... I'm not an animagus. Can I turn one of them into a cat?  
> Minerva: NO! You only got A on your Transfiguration NEWT. What if they got stuck that way? That'd be abusive!  
> Regulus: Can I turn them into a cat if they start flinging gay slurs at me and Barty?  
> Minerva: ...  
> Minerva: Still no, sorry. But I happen to know a prank spell that will make them sing showtunes and fart rainbows for a week.


	2. The Day That Shall Not Be Named

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walburga gets two gifts from Tomas Slytherin, the former Dark Lord.
> 
> * * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommendation:  
> [Downfall](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12161496) by Rantipo1e  
>  _"In the quiet hush of the night the voice whispered into his mind; soft, but it sent him soaring, his heart pounding a slow pulse behind every feeling, everything sharper."_
> 
>  
> 
> _Written for the prompt, "A Harry/Voldemort romance with both of them in character." A delicate balance between two enemies - they test each other, and get involved without meaning to._
> 
> * * *

**_12 Grimmauld Place, Under Fidelius_ **  
**_Walburga's Suite_ **  
**_10 March, 1986_ **

The Minister of Magic's home was under Fidelius, and most post-owls were turned away so that the mail could be screened before being handed over. But a few individual owls, belonging to trusted persons, were allowed through, and Walburga awoke to the sound of one of those owls pecking on her window.

Iris, a sleek barn owl, would continue pecking until she was let in, Walburga knew from long experience. She dragged herself out of bed and opened the window. Iris hopped through, and held out one talon, which held a shrunken letter and parcel. Walburga cast all the diagnostic spells she knew over it - even though she trusted Tom, his owl could have been tampered with - and then cut the letter and parcel free and unshrunk them.

_Dearest Walburga,_

_It would do me the greatest honour if you chose to wear the gift in the green box. The gift in the silver box is yours, regardless. Please floo to me tonight, when you can._

_Fondly yours,_

_Tomas_

Her birthday. The Day That Was Not To Be Named. Walburga had managed to forget that she was bloody 61 today. And Tom had to go and remind her, like he did every year. Though at least by now he'd learned not to say 'Happy Birthday' or any variation thereof.

She carefully opened the green box first, even though she had no intentions of accepting it. It would be another courting gift. He tried every year, and every year she sent his gift back, but it was always so interesting to see what he had found in the Slytherin vaults to offer her.

She opened the box and caught her breath.

A brooch. A snake, of course, twisted around itself a few times, with a teardrop shaped green sapphire dangling from it's mouth. She only knew by now that it was a green sapphire rather than an emerald because emeralds were such brittle gemstones that there were very few of them in the Slytherin vaults. For longevity, Salazar Slytherin had always chosen the more durable gemstone. It was beautiful, but wearing it would let the world know that she was being courted by Lord Slytherin.

She opened the second box, and it was another brooch, but not a snake. It was a jewelled butterfly brooch. Just as beautiful, but she could wear it without anyone suspecting it was a gift from Lord Slytherin, or a claim on her. As far as anyone would know, it had come from the extensive Black vaults. 

* * *

She remembered the first time he had sent her a courting gift, soon after she had become Minister and he had become Lord Slytherin. He had sent her a bracelet that year, and she had replied with a note saying _Tonight 8pm,_ along with her private floo address.

He had stepped through her floo exactly on time, perfectly dressed and groomed, but she thought there was something in his eyes. Something lost.

"Tom? A courting gift?" she asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes?" he said uncertainly.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're... brilliant, powerful, beautiful..." he trailed off. 

"You're lonely," Walburga said.

Tom didn't answer. He looked down at his hands. 

"I'm no blushing virgin, Tom, and I no longer have a father or grandfather to be outraged if my honour is sullied." She handed the bracelet to him. "I can't accept this. But I get lonely too. Stay."

"Are you planning to sully _my_ honour, Walburga Black?" he asked, with a small smile.

She had snorted, most inelegantly. She hardly believed Tom Riddle was a blushing virgin either. 

But they were no longer teenagers, and she wanted more than a shag, even if she wanted less than a courtship.

"Stand up, Tom." He did so, and she Apparated them to the ballroom, which took over all of the top floor, and more besides, being magically expanded. She waved a wand and music started to play. 

"Oh this won't do." Tom said. He lifted his own wand, and transfigured their robes into formal dress robes, and she clapped her hands.

"You remembered!"

"The Malfoy Yule Ball of 1941? I certainly do." He had recreated her dress robes from that year perfectly - a soft grey with silvery embroidery all along it, in a stylised spider's web. "I especially remember..." - he trailed a finger down her left shoulder, down her arm, until his fingers entwined with hers - "... how it left your left arm and shoulder perfectly bare. I hadn't marked any followers yet, but I had conceived of it. I danced with you whilst imagining my mark on your arm, letting all of the pure-bloods there know that you belonged to an up-start penniless half-blood orphan."

"You never did put the Dark Mark on me," Walburga said.

Tom kissed the inside of her wrist, and began to waltz with her. "You married another man. I knew Lord Black never would have accepted me, but it didn't stop me sulking about it."

"You're quite possessive, aren't you?" she said. "Is that why you want to claim me now?"

Tom gave a half smile that didn't meet his eyes. "You're Minister for Magic. It would be quite a coup, having you on my arm."

"And having me wearing your sigil on my arm?" she asked.

"Of course." He twirled her effortlessly as the music swelled. "I should have tried harder back then. Perhaps I could have convinced you to elope with me."

She laughed. "Never! I would _never_ have eloped! My mother would have murdered me!"

"Perhaps I could have coaxed you into an alcove..."

"And how would you have done that?" she asked.

He pulled her close, closer than was quite polite for dancing in public, and whispered in her ear, "Your body, moving inside that gown, is driving all thoughts out of my mind. All I can think about is measuring the length of your legs with my lips, and discovering the treasure at the top..."

Walburga breathed heavily. "If you'd said that to me when I was sixteen, you'd have had me debauched in an alcove for sure." 

"And now?"

She pulled him into the next dance, a high tempo foxtrot. "Now? I find beds far more convenient," she said.

* * *

They had fallen into an easy companionship. He was chosen to be Headmaster of Hogwarts not long afterwards, and with them both having high pressure jobs, it was common for one or the other to floo over for a night, and be gone before morning. It took a while for the press to catch on. The tabloids would be in love with the couple when they were seen at a Ministry ball or other high profile event, then turn on them when the society wedding they expected didn't materialise. 

Tom had begun renewing his courtship offers ever year, on her birthday, otherwise known as the Day That Shall Not Be Named. Every year she returned the courting gift, content to keep their relationship casual.

She had been married before, and had not enjoyed it. She and Orion were completely incompatible. They had never shared a bed after she had fallen pregnant with Regulus, and she had told him then that he could take lovers, so long as it was discreet and kept out of the marital home. Before the year was out, she saw him with his mistress in their favourite restaurant in Diagon Alley.  _Diagon Alley!_ Discreet was muggle restaurants! Discreet was vacationing in another country! Discreet was  _not_ Diagon fucking Alley!

It got worse. When the photos came out in  _Witch Weekly,_ she saw that the woman was wearing a necklace from  _her_ dowry! 

Walburga had handled it by paying the woman to return her jewels, and dosing her husband with a poison that left him impotent. When he and her parents died in the Dragon Pox epidemic in 1979, she mourned her parents. She didn't mourn Orion.

She found she rather liked being the head of the family.

* * *

 **_Hogwarts, Scotland_ **  
**_Headmaster's Office_ **

It was quite late before the floo lit up in Tom's office and Walburga arrived. His eyes went immediately to the brooch on her robes. The butterfly. Not the snake. He wasn't surprised. A little disappointed. A little relieved. But not surprised.

"Someday, witch," Tom said, as he waved his paperwork into his desk and locked it.

As he stood, she took hold of his tie and tugged him close. "Make me forget today," she said.

He knew by now that she didn't want to be told she was even more beautiful than she had been as a teenager, with the power and intelligence she'd gained as she matured making her radiant. He'd tried that on previous birthdays. By tomorrow, she would be her regular, confident self again. Tonight, she wanted to have her body worshipped until she could no longer think. 

He ran his fingers up into her hair, scattering her hairpins as he finger combed her hair down. She always wore her hair up when she faced the world, always up when she was Minister of Magic. Only for him was her hair ever down, falling below her waist, black with silver streaks. He fisted both hands in her glorious hair and kissed her as he Apparated them into the bedroom.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: So... you and Tom?  
> Walburga: Yes?  
> Author: He tried to court you, and you dragged him into your bedroom for a shag instead?  
> Walburga: Pretty much.  
> Author: I can just imagine Reggie's face the next morning at breakfast, when he saw you and the former Dark Lord, him unshaven and clearly wearing the previous day's clothes...  
> Walburga: I kept it for my penseive. ^_^


	3. Lily's Diary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petunia brings a problem to her sister
> 
> * * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Recommendation:  
> [Hermione Granger and the Chamber of Secrets](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17718173/chapters/41799668) by me  
>  _Hermione and Harry go into the Chamber together. Scenes from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets from the pov of the girls. Sequel, "[Ginny Weasley and the Dementors of Azkaban](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18442058)" in progress._
> 
> * * *

**_Farnham, Surrey_ **  
**_Snape-Evans Residence_ **  
**_22 March 1986_ **

 

Lily Evans was writing in her diary when she felt someone at the wards. She expanded her awareness outwards, and recognised the woman. "She's here, love," she called.

In her diary, she wrote, _They're here. I'll tell you later what she says._

The diary wrote back, _As if I care what a muggle has to say._

Then Lily closed the book and locked it away.

* * *

When she reached the sitting room, her sister Petunia and her husband Severus were attempting to make small talk. Petunia hadn't  _refused_ to come to their wedding, but her son Dudley had fallen ill conveniently (or so she claimed) and so she had been unable to make it. She didn't have six year old Dudley with her today, but she had her one year old daughter with her in a pushchair.

Lily leaned down and unbuckled the baby and scooped her up. "This must be Heather. I can't believe I haven't met my niece until now," she said. "Severus, will you see if Amity is up from her nap yet?" Little Heather didn't object to being picked up by a stranger, and simply snuggled into her aunt's arms. 

He looked relieved to have an excuse to leave the room.

Petunia sniffed. "Amity. You could have gone with a flower name. It's tradition."

"I didn't want to," Lily said. "Amity is her own person. She deserved her own name. Besides, her surname is Snape-Evans. She has her maternal heritage there."

"I suppose," Petunia conceded.

"Tuney, why are you here?"

Petunia wrung her hands. "Heather... she's doing things. The kind of things you did. Can you do something to make it stop? Make her normal?"

Lily lifted Heather up to look at her. "Are you a little witch? Is that what you are? Auntie's little witch?"

"It isn't a  _good_ thing!" Petunia shrieked. "Don't you see what will happen? She and Dudley will just end up hating each other, like we did! I don't want that! Just... make her be normal!"

Severus returned to the room, carrying their youngest daughter Amity, who was almost the same age as Heather. They had an older daughter too, Clotilde, who was at a playdate at the Malfoys. She had met the Dursleys once, at an awkward Thanksgiving dinner that had never been repeated.

"Magical children are precious," Severus said. "Amity, this is your Aunt Petunia and your cousin Heather." He set Amity down on the floor, and the little black haired girl toddled over to the new adult in the room. Petunia scooted away from her as if she carried plague.

"Lily, we just can't... we can't handle this! I don't know how Mum and Dad dealt with it, having one of each. Maybe if Dudley had been too, but he isn't. I just can't..." Petunia babbled.

"What are you saying, Petunia?" Lily asked. 

"Can't you... if you can't make her normal, can you just... take her? Raise her yourself? With  _your_ kind?" Petunia said.

* * *

Lily exchanged a look with Severus, and then pointed her sister to a door. "Go through there, to the kitchen. We need to talk."

Petunia nodded. "Yes, okay," she said nervously, and scuttled away, leaving her daughter behind.

Severus cast privacy and silencing charms on the door, then looked at his wife.

"Lily?"

"Obviously we take Heather. The only question is whether we raise her ourselves or place her with another family. I know several who are actively looking right now." Lily said.

"But she's your family. Could you give her up?" He stroked Lily's hair, because she wasn't looking at him. She was looking down at the child. "Tell me what you want."

Lily kissed Heather's head, and when she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. "Oh, Severus..." She remembered the boy she had given up, that she'd never told Severus about. "I want her."

"If you want her, then I want her too," Severus said. "She has your hair."

They called Petunia back in, and then they called in the Department of Muggleborn Adoptions to handle everything.

"Ma'am, you realise, if you sign this paperwork, you have relinquished all rights to Heather Dursley permanently," Jason Smith said to her.

"I do."

" _Obliviate."_

* * *

Smith took her home,  _Obliviated_ Vernon, and arranged for all mentions of Heather to be removed from the home. It took weeks to contact and  _Obliviate_ anyone else who had ever known Heather Dursley - the GP, Marge Dursley, various friends, Vernon's coworkers - but the Department took pride in doing a thorough job of transferring a child from the muggle to the magical world.

For an older child, especially if they were already in school, it was usually necessary to fake a death. But  _Obliviating_ young children was unethical - their minds were too plastic to respond easily to the magic. That was why Dudley had remained unaltered - but if he had stories about a sister named Heather, they trusted muggle adults to attribute it to an imaginary friend. If Heather had known a dozen or more children from school, they couldn't have used memory charms to erase her existence.

* * *

To avoid Petunia hearing mention of Lily's daughter, and triggering memories, Heather was renamed to Mira. She was close enough in age to be Amity's twin, so their birth certificates were changed to show the same birthdate. And finally, to seal the deal, the family did a blood adoption, so that Mira Snape-Evans would always show on blood tests, both magical and muggle, as Lily and Severus's child and Amity and Clotilde's sister.

Blood from each family member went into the potion that Mira drank. It did not dramatically change her appearance, the way a Dark Adoption would, but it was enough to bind her to them permanently, and that was enough for them. 

* * *

"How could she do that?" Severus said. He had cuddled Mira and promised to love her forever, and after she had fallen asleep, placed her in bed next to Amity. "How could she just abandon a child like that? What kind of person could do that?"

"Someone pushed beyond their limits," Lily said. "At least she knew she couldn't. At least she gave her to someone who would love her rather than try and endure what she couldn't."

"I will give her that small amount of credit and no more," Severus said. 

* * *

Later that night, after her three daughters and husband were asleep, Lily took out her diary.

_So... I have another daughter now._

   That was sudden. I know I don't have much sense of time passing, but I think I'd notice 40 weeks.

_Haha, Riddle. My muggle sister had a witch daughter and wanted us to make her 'normal'. When we refused, she begged us to take her. So, we did._

   Congratulations, Crow. You'll repopulate Wix Britain on your own at this rate.

_Very funny. How do I tell him?_

   Tell who what?

_Severus. He's so disgusted right now at Petunia for abandoning a child. How do I tell him that I did the same thing?_

   You're asking  **me** for relationship advice? You've come to the wrong diary.

_Who am I supposed to ask?_

The living me perhaps?

_Why would he know?_

I'm sure he doesn't. But I'm supposed to send you to him if you have any problems at all that I can't fix for you. That's what he told me before he gave me to you. That, and 'Don't you dare eat her soul, or I'll make it my life's mission to destroy you utterly, even if it makes me mortal again.'

  _How romantic._

   Isn't it just, Crow? I didn't know I had it in me...

_I was actually rolling my eyes. It's a bit stalkery._

   Oh hush, you secretly love it. You'd do the same for him. 

_Maybe. Probably._

Go to sleep. I'll see you in your dreams. 

_Yes. Yes, please..._

 

Lily put the small black diary under her pillow. And when she found herself in the Slytherin common room, with a 16 year old Tom Riddle by the fireplace, she knelt at his feet. "My Lord."

His lips turned up as he stroked her hair. "My little Crow. Let me keep you safe tonight." She blurred into the shape of a crow, landing on his arm, and he pulled her close, ruffling her feathers, as she snuggled her beak into him.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tom: Lily, this is my diary.  
> Lily: Er... it's blank. And oozing with dark magic.  
> Tom: You'll have fun figuring it out. Keep it safe! Don't let it eat your soul!  
> *later*  
> Lily: Your diary is trying to dream-seduce me. Is that okay with you?  
> Tom: I have no idea where this falls on the ethical scales...
> 
>  
> 
> _(Tom is telling me the diary might be his only horcrux. And if it is, then thanks to his vow, he can't make another one.)_


	4. Kneel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lord Slytherin tries to help Lily.  
> (CW: The Dark Lord interfering in relationships. Just really. This is a bad idea.)

**_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_  **   
**_Headmaster's Quarters_ **   
**_27 March 1986_ **

Thomas Slytherin knew he was a sick person, because one of the things he missed most about being a Dark Lord was having people kneel to him. He wanted the staff meetings at Hogwarts to start with them kneeling. He wanted meetings in his office to start with the petitioner kneeling until he chose to recognise them. 

(Fortunately, he was good at glamours. No one needed to know how it affected him when he saw fussy, lesbian, happily married, Pomona Sprout kneeling over her plants in the greenhouses.)

But there were few things that aroused him like the sight of Lily Evans, kneeling before him, her forehead on the floor, her long hair spread. She probably had invented a charm that made her hair and robes fall perfectly around her. He let her remain like that for several minutes, understanding that she wanted this as much as he did, before he said, "Rise. To me, my Crow."

She rose, and climbed into his lap, and he put his arms around her, breathing in her scent. Feeling the thrum of the magic that bound them.  _Mine._ He wanted to Vanish their robes and take her right here and now, but he never had given in to temptation. Theirs was a relationship bordering on infidelity, walking the knife edge. They were bound by magic. They had killed and tortured for one another. When the war ended, she had kept his Mark, acting as his assassin. And he had given her his horcrux to safeguard.

"My Lord," she whispered in his ear, her voice muffled, and then, to his terror, she began to cry.

Tom Riddle had never comforted crying friends. Even as prefect and Head Boy, when he found students crying, he sent them to the infirmary or their friends or another prefect. He didn't _do_ tears. Certainly the _Dark Lord_ never dealt with tears.

But Lord Slytherin, Headmaster of Hogwarts, had hundreds of students he was responsible for, and it was a certainty that several of them would turn up in his office in tears every week - often over something adolescent and inscrutable. He had been forced to learn how to deal with crying children and teenagers. (Which was not holding them close in his lap and kissing them senseless, whatever some of the more precocious students who decided they fancied the Headmaster might think. He didn't intentionally use _Legilimency_ on teenagers, because he wasn't a _masochist,_ but some of them had very  _very_ loud thoughts. Ugh. Puberty was the  _worst.)_

It probably wouldn't be the right answer here either, so he simply held her instead of kissing her senseless. "Do you want to talk about it?" (Pomona Sprout had taught him that line - it handled a number of Crying Teenager problems, though sadly not all of them.)

"My muggle sister gave me her magical baby girl," Lily said. As if this explained it all. She seemed to think it did.

"And... you don't want her?" Thomas said. 

"No, we do. We already adopted her. She's the same age as Ami," Lily said. She sat back so she could look him in the eyes. "I never told Severus about Harry. He thinks Harry is dead."

"Ah," Thomas said. He... wasn't sure where to go from there. "Do you have to tell him, my Crow?"The tears began again. Oh Salazar. "No no no, I'm sorry, if you think you have to..."

Lily flopped off his lap onto his footstool, but kept hold of his hand. "He keeps talking about how he could never understand a person who could just give away their child," Lily said, her green eyes filled with tears.

And suddenly he had the whole picture. She was being slammed by guilt every time he spoke, and it was tearing his Crow apart. 

"What if I tell him and he never forgives me?"

Thomas took a deep breath, because he was the last person Lily should be coming to for marital advice.  _If he never forgives you, then I would move heaven and earth to make you mine forever..._ "I'll fix it for you. I swear."

* * *

 

**_Ministry of Magic_  **   
**_Atrium_  **   
**_28 March 1986_ **

With the Ministry's official Child Friendly policy, news of the Snape-Evans household adopting a new child spread quickly. Time off for new mothers and fathers was official Ministry policy, and Severus was just coming in to spend one last day in the office so he didn't leave everything in a shambles, as well as showing off little Mira to his coworkers. Of course he was hit with a 'surprise' baby shower the moment he reached the Atrium. They had known it was coming, and since Lily had been forced to endure Amity's shower, Severus had agreed to face Mira's. After they had both presented themselves at Clotilde's shower, they had agreed afterwards that it was such an asinine waste of time that they should split the duties hereafter. So Severus made excuses about Ami having a cold and Lily not wanting it to spread to Mira or some such. He thought by the eighth person he'd told the story to that he'd mixed up which family member actually was sick. It didn't matter. No one was really listening. They were either cooing over the baby or trying to make an appearance before making a plate up at the buffet and disappearing again. 

Few of the Ministry employees were sensible enough to know that someone acquiring a third child probably had enough toys, books, and clothes, but Severus did his best not to sneer. He expected many of the items would go directly to the Magical Children's Home. Gift certificates for takeaway dinners and bundles of charmed diapers were thoughtful (and tended to be given by experienced parents). Donations to the Snape-Evans preferred charity, the Muggleborn Education Fund, was what was appreciated the most. After all, the family had the means to support themselves. It felt a bit ostentatious to be receiving gifts from others. If they could have stopped the shower from occurring, they would have. But he kept his sharp comments to himself, and let people pass Mira around until the baby got overwhelmed and cranky. Then he had an excuse to find a quiet corner to put up a silencing charm and a Notice-Me-Not until Mira was calm again.

On his way to the floo, he ran into Arthur Weasley, who was carrying a gift basket. "Sorry I'm late," Arthur said. "The Peakes family, our muggleborn partners, had an emergency - nothing serious. I won't ask to hold Mira - I can see he's quite shattered under that glamour she's hiding under. Anyway, this is for Clotilde."

Severus actually gave a rare smile at that. No one at the shower had thought of his eldest daughter. "It's been a bit rough for her."

"It's can be hard for the kids, sharing their parents with another person," Arthur said. "Ron had a hard time when Cora and Dulcie were born. Anyway, Mira has plenty of gifts, and you can re-tag some of hers for Ami, since they'll be for a toddler the same age. But Molly and I thought Clotilde deserved a little individual treatment."

If there was any family in Britain who had benefited from the peace, and the child friendly policies, it was the Weasleys. They were now financially comfortable, if not well-off. At the time of the Armistice, they'd had seven children, Ginevra a newborn. They'd had a pair of twin girls since then, and no one was entirely sure if Molly was going to keep popping them out.

"Thank you, Arthur. This was very thoughtful. I'm sure Lily will send her thanks as well."

"Send Clotilde over by floo sometime for some big girl time with Ginny and Luna," he said. Their oldest daughter was a year younger than the Ottery St. Catchpole girls, and looked up to them - especially Ginny - quite a bit more than Severus was entirely comfortable with. But it was something that Clotilde could do that her younger sisters couldn't. They wouldn't be allowed to use the floo for quite some time.

"I will, thank you." And Severus headed for home with his newest daughter.

* * *

 

**_Farnham, Surrey_  **   
**_Snape-Evans Residence_  **   
**_28 March 1986_ **

When he arrived home, instead of Lily waiting for him, he found the Dark Lord sitting in his living room, holding Clotilde in his lap, and reading her a book ( _Balmena Bowley and the Magizoologist_ _._ It was Clotilde's favourite book series, and he and Lily despised the entire eighteen book (and counting) series with a loathing normally reserved for Ministry dunderheads. They had both read the entire set aloud to their daughter at least a hundred times, and despite Lily inventing a charm that would let the books read themselves, Clotilde was never happy unless one of her parents was reading one of them to her.

Or, apparently, the former Dark Lord and her future Headmaster...

Severus bowed his head, knowing that Lord Slytherin did not want him kneeling in front of children. "My Lord..."

"Thomas, please. Or Headmaster, if you must use a title," he said. "'Then Jacob exclaimed 'My pocket watch! It was a gift from my grandmother! Where could it have gone?'"

"It was the Niffler!" Clotilde exclaimed.

"'It was the Niffler!' Balmena said. 'If we can find the Niffler, then we'll find your watch.' And that, Miss Snape-Evans, is all I can read to you for now. I need to talk to your father in his study."

"But the book isn't over!" Clotilde complained.

"You already know how to read," Thomas said. "Why don't you read the rest of it to Amity?"

To Severus's surprise, Clotilde didn't object, and simply climbed down to the floor to sit near the charmed barrier where Amity was playing. "Do you want to hear a story, Ami?"

 

Knowing the house-elves would keep an eye on the children, Severus followed the Dark Lord into his study, where he first parked the baby carrier with a sleeping Mira in it off to one side, and then knelt properly, until his Lord reached down and stroked his hair, then tilted his chin up.

"Are you still mine, Severus?"

"My Lord?"

"I removed your Mark. You have no obligation to follow me. Yet you still kneel. If I gave you an order, would you still follow it?" the Dark Lord asked, his head tilted curiously.

"Yes, my Lord. Of course. So long as it doesn't violate any of my oaths," Severus said.

"Are you sure? This isn't a loyalty test. I won't punish you for saying no. I need to know your true answer, not what you think I want to hear," the Dark Lord said.

"I am under four oaths, my Lord. The peace oath from the Armistice, my secrecy oath to the Unspeakables, my marriage vow, and my personal oaths of protection to my children. Aside from those, you have my utmost obedience."

"Rise, and be seated," the Dark Lord said. And when Severus was sitting across from him, he said. "I need to talk to you about the night I went after the Potters."

Severus held very still, perhaps remembering how close he had come to losing Lily that night.

"She offered me her service that night, after I killed James Potter, and I agreed to take her instead of the boy," the Dark Lord said. "She never talks about Harry Potter. I had to look up the Ministry records to find the official cause of death was being crushed when parts of his nursery collapsed. Not direct spell damage."

" _Was_ it you?" Severus asked.

The Dark Lord shook his head. "It wasn't a real baby. It was a homonculus. She asked me to give the boy to someone who could give him a proper home."

Severus's world shattered. "My... Lord...?"

"The boy is alive, and healthy, and has loving parents, and I order you to forgive her," the Dark Lord said.

Severus just stared. "She gave you her baby? She just gave him away?"

"James Potter was a monster. How could she live with that reminder of him? the Dark Lord asked. "Just... try and understand. Let it go."

Severus stood. "You need to leave." He had never given the Dark Lord an order in his life. "This isn't any of your business."

"This isn't the way I wanted to do it," the Dark Lord muttered, and said " _Petrificus Totalus."_

Severus's arms snapped to his sides and he fell, flat as a board, to the ground. The Dark Lord knelt over him and looked into his eyes. " _Obl-"_ And he stopped there. Stood. And released Severus.

"You can't  _Obliviate me?"_ Severus taunted. "It would violate the Peace Oath."

The former Dark Lord... Severus should start thinking of him as Lord Slytherin... didn't answer, which was answer enough.

"Again, I'd like to invite you to leave," Severus snarled. "Stay away from my family."

"Lily... didn't know I was going to be here today."

"I. Don't. Care." Severus said.

* * *

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dark Lord: *is about to get tossed out the floo by Severus*  
> Clotilde: Headmaster, will you finish my book?  
> Severus: Oh yes, finish Clotilde's book for her, by all means. It's part 1 of an 18 part series about a precocious orphan girl and her friends who solve mysteries whilst doing battle with a Dark Wizard who wants her dead.  
> Dark Lord: Er... No really, I should leave...  
> Severus: *casts a sticking charm* Get the whole series, Clo. The Headmaster _really wants_ to read them all to you.


	5. Broken Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Severus confronts Lily about keeping secrets.

**_Snape-Evans Residence_   **  
**_Farnham, Surrey_  **  
**_28 March 1986_ **

 

_She doesn't trust me._

That was the refrain that kept beating through Severus's mind as he and Lily screamed at one another (the kids behind silencing wards with the house-elves, so they didn't have to hear it). 

She should have told him before they bonded. Before they had their first child. Before they had their second child. Before they adopted their third.

She should have told him before Tomas bloody Slytherin told him.

He understood exactly why it had come up now, and not in the previous years - Mira's adoption was the catalyst, and his comments about Petunia. And instead of talking to him about it, she had gone to another man. And that other man had come to him.

_She doesn't trust me._

"Do you have other secrets from me?" he asked. And he could tell by the look in her eyes that the answer was yes. She didn't volunteer those secrets, and he didn't press. 

In the end, in the middle of the night, after they were exhausted from the arguing, he finally said the words that might be the end of them, as surely as the word 'Mudblood' might have ended them in fifth year.

"I think you should move out."

* * *

* * *

 

 ** _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_  **   
**_Headmaster's Quarters_  **  
**_28 March 1986_**

Lily burst through the floo into his quarters, and he could tell that she'd been crying for hours. He pulled her into his arms, and she was so distraught that she didn't seem to notice that he wasn't alone, nor was he dressed. 

Walburga Black didn't seem surprised at the intrusion. She simply slid on a dressing gown. "Darling, come with me. Let me wash your face," she said. His crow followed Walburga to the bathroom, which gave Tomas a chance to put clothing on. 

 _Thank you Walburga..._ Tending to a crying person was one kind of problem. Tending to a crying person  _whilst naked_ when you are  _wildly attracted_ to that person when your lover is in the room... that is just live action  _Cruciatus._

It seemed a long time before Walburga and Lily made it back into the bedroom, but Lily was no longer crying. Instead, she was looking at the floor. 

"Tom, Lily and I are going to mine. I'll be in touch," Walburga said. And she leaned down and kissed him, in a rather proprietorially way.

They left through the floo, and it took a few minutes after Lily had left for him to realise, that she hadn't said a single word to him at all.

* * *

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lily: *cries on Tom*  
> Tom: I will fix this!  
> Tom: *breaks it worse*  
> Lily: *cries on Tom more*  
> Walburga: *cracks knuckles*  
> Walburga: *cracks neck*  
> Walburga: *rolls shoulders*  
> Walburga: I got this. Come with me, Lily.


	6. Bonding Surrogacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Walburga and Lucius make plans for Lily and Severus's separation period.

_**12 Grimmauld Place** _  
_**Mistress Suite** _  
_**29 March 1986** _

Lily woke, confused about her whereabouts. The bed she was in was the most comfortable she'd ever experienced. She felt completely rested, for the first time since falling pregnant with Clotilde. And the person she was spooned up with, as the little spoon, was... _very certainly_... not her husband.

She opened her eyes, and that didn't help. She didn't recognise the room she was in. The woman - it was definitely a woman - pulled her a bit closer, and murmured, "A few more minutes, dearest."

The disaster of the day before was slowly coming back to her, and Lily finally remembered she was in bed with the Minister of Magic. They had floo'd direct into her room from the Headmaster's office. Walburga had let her cry and drink and vent. Then she had given her a few potions - Lily was pretty sure Dreamless Sleep was one - and put her to bed. 

 _Because I wouldn't let go of her. I was too pathetic..._ Lily remembered. _So the Minister of Magic cuddled me to sleep._

"Go back to sleep," Walburga murmured. "We were up late." And she kissed the back of Lily's neck and laced her fingers with Lily's, and suddenly Lily was very unsure of where things were going here.

 

When she woke the second time, Walburga offered her a bath and fresh clothes and had breakfast with her in her private sitting room ('You don't want to deal with the chaos downstairs just yet'), then, she said, "Do you have anyone in mind for your Surrogate?"

Lily just looked at her blankly. "I don't understand."

"Salazar, Circe and Morgana... Dumbledore really did a number on muggleborn education! You and your husband are separated. You will each need someone to care for you during this time, or your bond will tear at your magic. Have you really never heard of this?"

Lily shook her head. 

"Divorce is very rare in the magical world. A bond has to be broken, and it can damage both parties. Surrogacy was created to safely allow for a period of separation. It isn't considered infidelity, so long as both spouses agree on the identity of the partners. After a time of separation and reflection, the Surrogates mediate on behalf of the married couple, and try to affect a reconciliation," Walburga said gently. 

Lily looked up in hope. "Do you think he would ever forgive me? Would you... are you willing...?"

"It's what we all would wish," Walburga said, and she cupped Lily's cheek with one hand. "Lily, I would be honoured to be your Surrogate, but before you decide, there's something you must know. My grandson -"

"I know," Lily said. "I know who he used to be. He's not that boy anymore, is he? He has parents. I wouldn't dream of interfering."

"Not interfere," Walburga said. "But if you stay here with me, you will get to know him. That might be good for you."

Lily looked down at her hands, wringing them.

"Lily, look at me." Walburga said firmly. Lily obeyed at once. "If we do this, I need you to understand certain things. First, you will go to your husband and gain his agreement, after you will tell him the birth identity of Aries Black."

Lily nodded. She couldn't let anymore secrets grow between them.

"Second, you will approve his own Surrogate. If there is some reason not to, then you will come to me, and we will discuss it."

Lily nodded again.

"Third, there will be no clandestine meetings with Tomas Slytherin."

"What?!" Lily burst out.

"I have _eyes_ , child. Fourth, you will be my submissive."

"I couldn't!" Lily protested.

"You've been fighting so long," Walburga said gently. "I know you want to let go, let someone take care of you for a while. But you've been afraid, because of what that monster did. You've been afraid that if you gave way to your natural tendencies, it would make you weak and someone could abuse you again. I will show you what consensual submission feels like."

Lily felt her eyes grow moist, but she blinked it back. "I don't know what you mean," she lied.

"Lily, come sit on my lap," Walburga said. 

Lily hesitated, but after a moment, she stood and moved towards the older woman. Walburga pulled her into her lap, then gently pinned Lily's wrists behind her back with one hand. It was nothing Lily couldn't have broken free from - but at that moment, she felt heat flood her core.

"Kiss me," Walburga ordered. 

Lily whimpered, and bent down clumsily to kiss Walburga. It wasn't her first time kissing another woman - there had been experimentation back at Hogwarts - but it was the first time she'd felt quite so ravished. Walburga wound her fingers through Lily's hair and held her close as her tongue licked into Lily's mouth and her teeth bit Lily's lips. Walburga pulled away, and Lily chased her, trying to keep the kiss going, but instead, Walburga let go of her hands and ran her fingers along Lily's spine.

"If you were mine, you would be my treasured pet. I would care for you and pamper you and take care of all of your needs. And you will be my good girl. I think you want to set your troubles down for a time and let someone else be in charge," Walburga murmured.

"That... might be nice," Lily confessed.

"Then let's talk to your husband."

* * *

* * *

**_Snape-Evans Residence_   **  
**_Farnham, Surrey_  **  
**_29 March 1986_ **

Lily Evans had never heard of Bonding Surrogacy before today, but Severus Snape was a Slytherin, and so he was aware of the custom. It was one of the reasons why wix-wix marriages were preferable to wix-muggle ones. There was no magical bond to hold couples together in times of strife. While Lily was breakfasting with Walburga, he was on the floo with Lucius Malfoy, making arrangements. 

Lucius had been close to Severus since their time in Hogwarts, and their service in the war, and in the peace, had only brought them closer. Severus was godfather to Lucius's eldest son, and Lucius was godfather to Clotilde. Severus had developed potions that had kept Narcissa's second pregnancy viable, and allowed their daughter Titania to be born. There wasn't much that Lucius wouldn't do for Severus. Agreeing to take him into his home, acting as his Bonding Surrogate, wasn't even a slightly difficult decision. 

By the time Lily and Walburga arrived for her to pack, Lucius and Narcissa were there. The Surrogates made all of the arrangements. Lily would stay with Walburga. Severus would stay at Malfoy Manor. The children would spend equal time at each residence. 

When Lily confessed that Aries Black had once been her son, Severus said impatiently, "I figured that. Regulus's bastard, appearing at the same time. It was obvious in retrospect."

"One month to start, I think," Lucius said. He took Walburga's hands, and they chanted in Latin, a variation of the marriage bond. When they finished, a silver band encircled their hands, then sank into their skin. 

Bonded couples had a magical bond between them, but if there was discord, a break in the bond could cause a backlash and harm one or both of the married couple. As Surrogates, the bond was temporarily transferred. Severus's bond to Lily would be transferred to Lucius. Lily's bond to Severus would be transferred to Walburga. And Walburga and Lucius would hold a magical bond to one another. 

Lucius thought that Lily had made a good decision. After all, Walburga was a Black woman, which meant terrifying but competent. Severus's wife was in good hands. He only hoped he could keep Severus in good hands. 

**_Malfoy Manor_  **  
**_Master Suite_ **  
**_29 March 1986_ **

"Come with me, my own," Lucius said to him, taking him by the wrist and pulling him gently towards the Master Suite while the house-elves took the children to the nursery wing. "Let me take care of you." 

Severus mutely followed, and when they reached the bathroom, allowed Lucius to undress him as the massive bath - large enough for a dozen or more bathers - filled with hot water. Lucius undressed himself with a wave of the hand and took Severus down the steps into the water, then onto a seat where he placed Severus in front of him, his back against Lucius's chest. Lucius lathered up a sponge and washed Severus tenderly, all over, then gently lathered his hair. He felt genuine attraction for his friend, but sensed it was too soon, so he limited himself to a few gentle kisses along the back of Severus's neck. 

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author: THIS FEELS SO AWKWARD I CANNOT WRITE SMUT!  
> Walburga: Oh come on, Lily is totally a submissive who has been suppressing her true self since the whole Potter incident.  
> Lucius: And I am quite looking forward to spending time with Severus... perhaps with Narcissa as well...  
> Author: Lily? Severus? Any input?  
> Lily: I did not realise how hot our Minister for Magic was until I woke up in bed with her.  
> Severus: Oh I've always known how hot Lucius was. He was one of my early crushes. He was so much older than me, and the Slytherin Prince...  
> Author: It still feels awkward and embarrassing and I want to run away and never post this.
> 
> ((I kind of invented this 'Bonding Surrogacy' thing. I want it to be a sex magic-bonding magic kind of magical thing, but I'm so new to writing smut that it feels forced. So... any encouragement or advice is very welcome!))


End file.
